Do you want to make authentic Chinese food but have trouble reading Chinese recipes? In this lesson we learn some words and classifiers which often appear in recipes, to start our journey on becoming Chinese food experts!

We will learn how to cook a simple Chinese dish called 西红柿炒鸡蛋 [xī hóng shì chǎo jī dàn] （stir-fried tomato eggs）. Let’s start out by having a look at the 菜谱简介 [cài pǔ jiǎn jiè] （recipe summary）.

Hover over any word to show translation

cài pǔ

菜谱

菜譜

recipe, menu (in restaurant)

jiǎn jiè

简介

簡介

summary, brief introduction

：

xī hóng shì

西红柿

西紅柿

tomato

chǎo

炒

炒

to sauté, to stir-fry

jī dàn

鸡蛋

雞蛋

chicken egg

shì

是

是

is, are

yí

一

一

one, a

dào

道

道

classifier for courses in a meal

pǔ tōng

普通

普通

common, ordinary

de

的

的

(used after an attribute)

jiā cháng

家常

家常

the daily life of a family

cài

菜

菜

dish (type of food), cuisine

。

tā

它

它

it

bú dàn

不但

不但

not only (... but also...)

zuò fǎ

做法

做法

method for making, recipe

jiǎn dān

简单

簡單

simple, not complicated

，

ér qiě

而且

而且

(not only ...) but also, moreover

yíng yǎng

营养

營養

nutrition

fēng fù

丰富

豐富

rich, plentiful

，

suǒ yǐ

所以

所以

therefore, so

fēi cháng

非常

非常

extraordinary, very

shòu dào

受到

受到

to receive

dà jiā

大家

大家

everyone

de

的

的

~'s (possessive particle)

xǐ ài

喜爱

喜愛

to like, to be fond of

。

Recipe summary: Stir-fried tomato eggs is a common household dish. It's not only easy to make but also rich in nutrition, which makes it loved by everyone.

Character set

Pinyin

不但……而且……Not only, ... But also....

This a commonly used pattern, roughly equivalent to the construction “not only ... but also ...” in English.

Hover over any word to show translation

tā

她

她

she

bú dàn

不但

不但

huì

会

會

can, to be possible, to be able to, will, to be likely to, to be sure to, to assemble, to meet, to gather, to see, union, group, association, CL:個|个[ge4], a moment (Taiwan pr. for this sense is [hui3])

zuò

做

做

to do, to make, to produce, to write, to compose, to act as, to engage in, to hold (a party), to be, to become, to function (in some capacity), to serve as, to be used for, to form (a bond or relationship), to pretend, to feign, to act a part, to put on appearance

can, to be possible, to be able to, will, to be likely to, to be sure to, to assemble, to meet, to gather, to see, union, group, association, CL:個|个[ge4], a moment (Taiwan pr. for this sense is [hui3])

zuò

做

做

to do, to make, to produce, to write, to compose, to act as, to engage in, to hold (a party), to be, to become, to function (in some capacity), to serve as, to be used for, to form (a bond or relationship), to pretend, to feign, to act a part, to put on appearance

个、根、克、毫升 classifiers

We saw a lot of different classifiers in the above example. Let's have a look at how they are used.

个 [ge]— before nouns without special measure words of their own

1个星期 [yí ge xīng qī] — one week

5个苹果 [wǔ ge píng guǒ] — five apples

根 [gēn]— for long, thin objects

3根绳子 [sān gēn shéng zi] — three pieces of strings

6根头发 [liù gēn tóu fà] — six strands of hair

克 [kè]— gram(g.), 千克 [qiān kè] — kilogram(kg.)

8克糖 [bā kè táng] — 8g sugar

9千克米 [jiǔ qiān kè mǐ] — 9kg rice

毫升 [háo shēng] — milliliter(ml.), 升 [shēng] — litre(l.)

2毫升醋 [èr háo shēng cù] — 2ml vinegar

10升水 [shí shēng shuǐ] — 10l water

Basic seasoning words

Seasoning is an important aspect of cooking, so let's have a look at how to say some of the most common types of seasoning in Chinese.

盐 [yán] — salt

酱油 [jiàng yóu] — soy sauce

醋 [cù] — vinegar

糖 [táng] — sugar

辣椒 [là jiāo] — chili(red) pepper

色拉油 [sè lā yóu] — salad oil

花椒 [huā jiāo] — Sichuan pepper

胡椒 [hú jiāo] — black pepper

料酒 [liào jiǔ] — cooking wine

蚝油 [háo yóu] — oyster sauce

味精 [wèi jīng] — monosodium glutamate(MSG)

Now the ingredients are ready and you can start cooking. Let's learn some verbs that will come in handy.

洗 [xǐ] — to wash (dishes, etc.)

切 [qiē] — to cut

加入 [jiā rù] — to add (ingredient, etc.)

倒 [dào] — to pour

烧 [shāo] — to roast

炒 [chǎo] — to fry

Having learned these words, we can finally take a look at this recipe's 做法 [zuò fǎ] （instructions） !

Hover over any word to show translation

zuò fǎ

做法

做法

method for making, recipe

：

yī

1

1

、

xī hóng shì

西红柿

西紅柿

tomato

xǐ

洗

洗

to wash

gān jìng

干净

乾淨

clean

hòu

后

後

after

yòng

用

用

to use

kāi shuǐ

开水

開水

boiled water

tàng

烫

燙

to scald, to heat (sth) up in hot water

liǎng

两

兩

two

fēn zhōng

分钟

分鐘

minute

hòu

后

後

after

qù

去

去

to remove, to get rid of

pí

皮

皮

skin

，

qiē piàn

切片

切片

to slice

。

èr

2

2

、

jī dàn

鸡蛋

雞蛋

chicken egg

dǎ

打

打

to hit, to break

rù

入

入

to enter, to go into

wǎn

碗

碗

bowl, cup

zhōng

中

中

in

，

jiā rù

加入

加入

to mix into, to add in

shǎo xǔ

少许

少許

a little, a few

yán

盐

鹽

salt

hé

和

和

and

wèi jīng

味精

味精

monosodium glutamate (MSG)

，

dǎ sǎn

打散

打散

to whisk

chéng

成

成

to become, to turn into

dàn yè

蛋液

蛋液

egg liquid, beaten egg

。

sān

3

3

、

cōng

葱

蔥

scallion

xǐ

洗

洗

to wash

gān jìng

干净

乾淨

clean

hòu

后

後

after

qiē

切

切

to cut, to slice

mò

末

末

tip, end

。

sì

4

4

、

guō

锅

鍋

pot, pan

nèi

内

內

inside

dào

倒

倒

to pour

yóu

油

油

oil, fat, grease

shāo

烧

燒

to burn, to cook

zhì

至

至

to, until

wēi rè

微热

微熱

small heat, a little warm

，

dào

倒

倒

to pour

rù

入

入

to enter, to go into

dàn yè

蛋液

蛋液

egg liquid, beaten egg

，

xiān

先

先

first

bié

别

別

do not, must not

fān dòng

翻动

翻動

to stir, to flip over

，

děng

等

等

to wait for

dàn yè

蛋液

蛋液

egg liquid, beaten egg

níng gù

凝固

凝固

to solidify, to congeal

yì xiē

一些

一些

some, a little

hòu

后

後

after

zài

再

再

then (after sth, and not until then)

fān dòng

翻动

翻動

to stir, to flip over

。

wǔ

5

5

、

dào

倒

倒

to pour

rù

入

入

to enter, to go into

xī hóng shì

西红柿

西紅柿

tomato

，

chǎo

炒

炒

to sauté, to stir-fry

zhì

至

至

to, until

jī dàn

鸡蛋

雞蛋

chicken egg

hé

和

和

and

xī hóng shì

西红柿

西紅柿

tomato

biàn

变

變

to change, to become

ruǎn

软

軟

soft

hòu

后

後

after

fàng

放

放

to put

rù

入

入

to enter, to go into

shǎo xǔ

少许

少許

a little, a few

yán

盐

鹽

salt

hé

和

和

and

wèi jīng

味精

味精

monosodium glutamate (MSG)

，

zuì hòu

最后

最後

finally

dào

倒

倒

to pour

rù

入

入

to enter, to go into

cōng

葱

蔥

scallion

mò

末

末

tip, end

jí kě

即可

即可

equivalent to 就可以, (do sth) and that will suffice

。

Instructions:
1. After washing the tomatoes clean, scald them using hot water for two minutes, then remove the skin and slice them.
2. Crack the eggs into a bowl, add some salt and MSG, then whisk until they become liquid.
3. Wash the scallions and cut off the tips.
4. Put some oil in a pan and heat until mildly warm. Pour in the beaten eggs. Don't stir at first; wait until the eggs solidify a bit and then stir.
5. Add the tomatoes and stir until the eggs and tomatoes become soft, then add a bit of salt and MSG. Finally add the scallion tips and that's it.

This is the accompanying blog post for our upper intermediate lesson "Little Li's Recipe".You can read the entire lesson for free using Du Chinese, available for iPhone and Android.Click here for more information.